Halloween is a seasonal development engine: customers are primed to spend time, strive themed content material, and purchase themed items, and so they anticipate experiences that match the temper. Whether or not you run a hyper-casual recreation, a streaming app, or an e-commerce app, thoughtfully designed Halloween initiatives can enhance installs, session time, retention and income.
Let’s break down why Halloween issues, the highest-impact techniques by vertical and cross-category playbooks!
Why Halloween is price your time
- Information from Modify reveals that in October 2023, gaming app classes grew roughly 18–36 % above the yr’s common in a number of sub-genres resembling arcade and simulation as Halloween approached.
- Purchasing app installs peaked at +87 % above the month-to-month common round October 15, pushed by robust client intent for costumes and decorations.
We will say that Halloween campaigns are high-ROI: demand exists, cell is central to conversion, and themed content material will increase engagement.
Fast playbook by vertical
1) Cell video games – convert temper into retention & IAP carry
Video games are the low-hanging fruit for Halloween activations as a result of gamers anticipate seasonal occasions.
Techniques:
- Restricted-time occasions & development observe: Add a Halloween map, restricted prizes, an occasion go, or a time-limited meta layer (day by day duties that award ghost-themed foreign money). Occasion passes convert nicely — pair a free observe with a paid observe for “immediate gratification” rewards.
- Shortage-driven retailer gadgets: Pumpkin skins, haunted avatars, and unique results generate FOMO. Use bundles (pores and skin + foreign money) priced to nudge mid-tier spenders.
- Themed reside ops: Quick tales, spooky lore, or limited-time challenges improve social sharing and session frequency.
- Retargeting campaigns: Goal churned gamers with a come again message, push providing one-time rewards. Seasonal urgency motivates gamers.
- Advert Creatives:
Design Halloween-themed advert creatives that match your recreation’s aesthetic. Concentrate on spooky visuals, festive colours, and seasonal messaging to seize consideration and drive installs. - In-Recreation Themes:
Incorporate Halloween parts into your recreation to reinforce the participant expertise. This could embody themed characters, backgrounds, gadgets, and limited-time challenges. Replace loading screens with Halloween visuals to immerse gamers instantly and set the tone for the seasonal content material.
2) Leisure apps (streaming, audio, brief video)
October is binge season: horror, thrillers, and themed playlists see extra performs.
Techniques:
- Curated Halloween collections: Create in-app hubs like “High Halloween Films”, “Spooky Shorts”. Put these hubs front-and-center in your app homepage banner.
- Free trials & restricted reductions: Provide a Halloween weekend discounted trial or bundle horror content material into a brief “sampler” that converts to full subscription.
- Halloween Advert Campaigns: Promote your seasonal content material with enjoyable, Halloween-themed advertisements. Use programmatic, social, or in-app campaigns to achieve each new and returning customers. For instance, programmatic campaigns can retarget lapsed customers with spooky content material.
Halloween pushes customers into particular content material classes; surfacing curated, easy-to-browse hubs removes friction and guides viewers to extra playtime and potential subscription conversion. Streaming consumption usually rises in October.
3) Purchasing & commerce apps
Customers begin planning sooner than you suppose, practically half start earlier than October lately, and Halloween has broad classes (costumes, décor, sweet) to focus on.
Techniques:
- Programmatic Campaigns: Run programmatic advertisements to achieve high-intent customers with Halloween-themed creatives. Concentrate on individuals who have beforehand bought seasonal gadgets, proven curiosity in costumes or décor, or engaged with comparable content material.
- Lookalike Audiences: Leverage your finest prospects from previous Halloween seasons to seek out new high-value customers. This helps enhance set up high quality, engagement, and conversion charges.
- Inventive Testing:
Run a number of variations programmatically to find which creatives drive the best installs, classes, and purchases. Optimize in actual time to maximise marketing campaign efficiency in the course of the seasonal window. - Dynamic Inventive Optimization (DCO): Mechanically tailor advert creatives primarily based on consumer habits, location, or preferences. For instance, selling children’ costumes to customers who beforehand purchased toys. Use Halloween visuals constantly throughout advertisements and in-app banners to bolster the seasonal temper.
Cross-category techniques that carry efficiency
- Inventive & ASO
- Replace creatives to match season (retailer screenshots, characteristic photos, Video Preview exhibiting a Halloween second). A Halloween-themed app icon or retailer inventive can produce significant uplift in conversion charge throughout October.
- Check brief (6–15s) vertical movies for retailer preview and UA creatives emphasizing shortage and limited-time rewards.
- Segmentation & personalization
- Section by habits (current high-LTV gamers, lapsed customers, lively consumers) and tailor the provide. For video games, provide totally different reactivation incentives to whales vs informal gamers.
- Push + in-app + e mail orchestration
- Use multi-touch: a push to announce the occasion, an in-app modal with the reward, and an e mail with a deeper information. Maintain messaging constant and progressive — teaser → launch → last-chance.
- Advert funnels & UA
- Push Halloween-themed UA campaigns instantly and run them by way of the remaining days of October. Spotlight limited-time presents, seasonal bundles, or occasion content material to seize last-minute consumers. Rotate creatives to keep away from fatigue.
KPIs to observe (and how one can interpret them)
- Installs & CPI: Spikes anticipated in the event you run acquisition with seasonal creatives; watch ROI vs baseline.
- Session size & frequency: Key for leisure and video games; a carry reveals occasion resonance.
- Occasion participation charge: P.c of lively customers who be part of the Halloween occasion (video games) or click on by way of to curated hubs (streaming/procuring).
- Conversion charge & ARPU: Does the occasion convert browsers to patrons or free customers to subscribers?
- Reactivation uplift & retention delta: Measure whether or not reactivated customers hold enjoying/shopping for after the occasion window; short-term spikes with out sustained retention want totally different follow-ups.
Last guidelines for fast implementation hits
- Replace retailer creatives with Halloween visuals.
- Construct a “Halloween” hub/touchdown display screen in-app.
- Create an occasion development and clear reward timeline.
- Put together segmented push & e mail sequences (teaser → launch → final probability).
- Run UA assessments with themed creatives.
